I found my old Cateye RC220 in a corner of the garage and, surprisingly after several years of non-use, the battery took a charge. With all this talk of 2000 Lumens and the like I decided to do a ride with them last night, to remind me of how it was when I started night riding.

Even though I enjoyed night riding with that light there is no going back, as it's really crap even in comparison to the Halogen Lumis I'm still using while waiting on my DX to arrive. Hardly any light and what there is not broad enough (which was a factor in me binning it heavily last night when I hit a rock I hadn't seen at the edge of the trail).

There might be such a thing as too much light, but I'd rather have that than the single candlepower and weight of that old light!

I still have my one too but I'd never use it now – fine for getting out at night but definitely puts a limit to how fast you can ride.

i have the 230 option. not held me back too much when razzin although a head torch is useful for the twisty bits.

i do however get a shadow when my mate follows too close with his custom daylight power jobbies.

they are shite but theey are pretty much indestructable. and with a decent battery they arnt too heavy and last a few hours.

I had a 230 for a while as well – definitely better than the 220 with the combination of flood and spot.

My DX has just arrived so the amount of light on tonights ride will be rather different from last nights!

Ah yes, mine was actually the 230

I have them and use them as my main light for commuting and find them really good for that as you get more than enough light to see the road by and people tend to take a second look when they see them.
If i had some money i would like a second set to have as back up as its a faff to swap them between bikes.(so if any one wants to bin a set i will take care of them for you 😉 )

Another ex RC230 user. Still got them with all the other random bits and bobs in the "lighting spares" box.

When our Thurday night ride started a few years ago they were the most powerful set of lights in the group… those were the days…!

My RC220 and RC230 were fine when others in the group were using similar lights, but as soon as folks started turning up with Cateye Stadiums and HID Lumi's there was no choice but to upgrade.

yeah i had some too! great set of lights. I wouldn't be suprised if the OP's battery has degraded a bit making them a bit dimmer. they used to provide more than enough light!

I wouldn't be surprised if the battery had degraded somewhat, however it didn't appear to have dimmed appreciably in the hour or so I was running it. Even when new I only used to get a max of 90 minutes out if it so it can't have dropped all that far.

The light was adequate to ride by, once I'd re-dialed my expectations, however it was noticeably trickier (and slower) than riding with my Lumi's.

I had a set of 230's and changed the bulbs for a simple single LED conversion, not much more light but loads more battery life. Halogen is technolohy of the past.

What bulb did you use and where did you get it? I've been thinking about swapping the battery for something lighter and using it as a commuting light or a headlamp – having a more efficient bulb would be good for that.

Ditto on the bulb info.

I still have these,over-volted to 7.2v,lots brighter,but I don't commute or night ride now 🙁
Ian

It was the cutter XRE 100 kit glues to a piece of bent brass plate screwed to the back of the clamp inside the housing with LED glued to it with thermal epoxy. The bukpak went in the waterbottle battery.
As I said not much more light but much longer burn time and whiter light too.